Coalition Wants Open AG Vote ASAP

Parliamentary chairman Richard Sulik has announced a special session this month regarding the ongoing saga of the Attorney General post, which has been vacant since February thanks chiefly to wrestling between the coalition and the opposition.

Who will be King of the Castle? (c) The Daily

Sulik announced yesterday that a special session would take place on 17 June, almost two weeks before the regular session set for 28 June. The rush is not just because the post is vacant, though, as the coalition wants to push through an open vote before the recent legislative change allowing this is prevented by the Supreme Court.

A petition was sent to the Supreme Court by acting Attorney general Ladislav Tichy requesting a preliminary injunction that would prevent a public vote from taking place until a final decision is made on the legitimacy of the legislative change to the parliamentary Rules of Procedure.

There has been talk recently of the coalition and the opposition agreeing on a single candidate in advance, but the coalition still stands behind its sole candidate Jozef Centes, and there is very little chance that opposition party Smer-SD will back this option.

On a political discussion programme at the weekend, deputy chairman of Smer-SD Marek Madaric made it clear immediately that they would not back Centes’ candidacy, as he was ‘serving’ the coalition’s purposes. The Smer-SD party is not happy about the special session either, as it has been convened before the ruling on the petition has been issued by the Supreme Court.